Thoughts and commentary about the janitorial and office cleaning business.

04/25/2011

Sometimes it takes a while...

Months ago, I quoted a mid-sized pediatric clinic. The pediatrician I spoke with allowed that her partners preferred contracting with an individual, as opposed to a "business", in order to save money.

She was concerned that the VCT (90% of the facility) looks a bit dull, even though her "service" is stripping every couple of months (at extra charge) - probably because he doesn't own a burnisher. I'll bet if she added the stripping charges to her monthly fee, she'd find out that she's been paying more than a legitimate service would charge her to clean AND periodically burnish.

She was also concerned about the building's heavy dust load, but thinks it's unavoidable, because Arizona "is a dusty place". Which it is.

A quick look in the janitor closet revealed a dust-mop (filthy, as always) rather than a hard-floor vacuum, a string mop rather than microfiber, and a feather duster (kind of ratty) rather than microfiber wipes. What with Arizona being a dusty place and all, you'd think it would be a good idea to work a bit on removing the dust from the building, instead of just recirculating it.

You'd also think that a place treating little kids would have some concern for the health of the kids. But perhaps working to keep the airborne allergens and pathogens circulating in the building keeps the kids coughing, and business returning...

Finally, you'd think that a firm subjected to various regulatory agencies would want to have the chemical bottles properly labeled, and an MSDS book on hand (both fineable OSHA violations), and maybe even a decent touch-point sanitizer available. But not in this janitor closet.

It's been about eight months; finally got a call to begin service. They've been putting up with quite inferior service for all that time, and their patients have been living with a less than satisfactory indoor environment. I'm interested to see the janitor closet when I drop by to pick up the keys, and to compare Indoor Air Quality readings after a few weeks proper cleaning.

We've offered janitorial services in Phoenix since 1974; hold the BBB's A-plus rating; and have long been in the forefront of the industry in environmentally sensitive cleaning for health, safety and security. Our office cleaning program can generally improve Indoor Air Quality, in the size range of most allergens, by a factor of 50%, as reflected in our ongoing IAQ sampling. We also furnish Green Seal certified recycled restroom paper products and janitorial supplies.